Are Protons Magnetic? Answers to Your Questions

[Kalrag]

Alright, this one is really bugging me. Are protons magnetic. Are they attracted to a magnet or can the be controlled by a magnet?

 

[cragar]

They have a Magnetic moment and so do neutrons .

 

[Idoubt]

yes they can be controlled magnetically, that's how particle accelerators work.

 

[Kalrag]

So is that also true for neutrons. That they can be controlled by magnets?

 

[Dale]

yes they can be controlled magnetically, that's how particle accelerators work.

That is also how magnetic resonance imaging works.

 

[cragar]

So is that also true for neutrons. That they can be controlled by magnets?

Yes but their B field is very weak.

 

[Sakha]

Alright, this one is really bugging me. Are protons magnetic. Are they attracted to a magnet or can the be controlled by a magnet?

Just to clear a point: a magnetic field will not do work on the proton. It will accelerate the proton in a circular way, just changing the direction but not the magnitude.

 

[JDługosz]

Individual protons are magnetic in the same sense as individual electrons! They are both charged spin-1/2 particles.

 

[granpa]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-factor

electron fudge factor

proton and neutron fudge factor

muon fudge factor

 

[JDługosz]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-factor

electron fudge factor...

Other than being more massive, can you explain what the differences are? How does this affect its motion, in contrast to (just) its mass and charge?

 

[granpa]

We would expect magnetic moment and angular momentum to always be proportional to each other.
They arent.
Hence the fudge factors.

 

[K^2]

Just to clear a point: a magnetic field will not do work on the proton. It will accelerate the proton in a circular way, just changing the direction but not the magnitude.

What you said is true for CONSTANT magnetic field. A gradient in the field can accelerate a magnetic moment.

 

[QuantumPion]

yes they can be controlled magnetically, that's how particle accelerators work.

This doesn't sound right to me. Particle accelerators use magnetic fields to curve the path of protons but this is due to the proton's electric charge moving through an external magnetic field, not the proton's magnetic moment.